Marvel Phase Five continues with Deadpool & Wolverine this July. But what about Marvel Phase Six, as confirmed at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con?
It's set to resolve the retroactively named 'Multiverse Saga', which spans Phases Four to Six in total.
Here's the Cineworld blog lowdown of the Phase Six movies in order of release.
1. Fantastic Four
Release date February 14th, 2025
It's been announced that the internet's favourite dad Pedro Pascal will be playing Reed Richards aka the stretchy Mr Fantastic. Pascal will be joined by Napoleon and The Crown star Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman.
Right behind them is Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Johnny Storm AKA The Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) as Ben Grimm AKA walking talking rock-humanoid The Thing.
The Fantastic Four is being directed by Matt Shakman who helmed all nine episodes of the Marvel series WandaVision. Shakman replaced original incumbent Jon Watts, director of the stupendously successful Tom Holland MCU Spider-Man trilogy.
The Fantastic Four is being written by Josh Friedman, creator and lead writer of the acclaimed Isaac Asimov series Foundation. He's also James Cameron's partner-in-crime on the upcoming Avatar 4 and 5 and will also be taking a co-writing credit on the 2024 blockbuster Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (due out on May 10th).
The news was announced in the following Marvel Valentine's Day post.
Happy Valentine’s Day from Marvel’s First Family! Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn are The Fantastic Four.
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) February 14, 2024
Marvel Studios' #TheFantasticFour, in theaters July 25, 2025. pic.twitter.com/unLVxPsjSW
2. Blade (released November 7th, 2025)
The Black Panther movie wasn't the first big-screen comic book blockbuster to showcase a black superhero. Back in 1998, actor Wesley Snipes portrayed maverick vampire-hunter Blade in the gnarly and blood-soaked Marvel movie of the same name.
Preceding all thoughts of a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the first Blade film is far tougher and nastier than many of its successors, a facet that landed it an 18 certificate in the UK. The current wave of comic book epics owes itself to Blade, which arrived to tear up the big screen even before the first X-Men film.
Snipes' stylish title character, who mixes martial arts, weaponry and swishy trench coats, appeared in two more films in 2002 and 2005, before being put on ice. The first of those was directed by Guillermo Del Toro, and was good, gory fun. The last film, Blade: Trinity, was critically mauled and dogged by reports of Snipes' bizarre on-set behaviour.
Very soon (we hope), Blade is returning to reassert his dominance, as played by Mahershala Ali. The actor has swiftly ascended the Hollywood ranks to nab Oscars for his roles in Moonlight and Green Book, and the prospect of him playing Marvel's 'day-walker' is enormously exciting. Plus, he's being paired with scream queen sensation Mia Goth, the star of Ti West's acclaimed horror trilogy encompassing X (2022), Pearl (2023) and the recent MaXXXine.
Given that directors Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange have both walked away from the project, the current iteration of Blade remains in limbo. Stay tuned for more details.
3. Avengers 5
Release date May 1st, 2026
Lovecraft Country's Jonathan Majors was introduced as a variant of the all-powerful Kang the Conqueror at the end of Loki. This was, however, a multiversal Kang variant named 'He Who Remains.' Majors then appeared as Kang in Ant-Man and he Wasp: Quantumania, but owing to his legal troubles, has now departed the role of Kang. Who he'll be replaced with remains to be seen.
How Kang will manifest in the next Avengers movie is anyone's guess at this stage. But whatever form in which he appears, he portends bad news for any new-look Avengers collective (the details of which are, similarly, thin on the ground at the moment).
Created in 1964 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Kang possesses formidable, even transcendent, abilities, including the ability to time jump. In fact, there was recently a comic book arc by the name of The Kang Dynasty, published from 2001 to 2002. It detailed how the megalomaniacal Kang took over the Earth with help from his son, Marcus, so will the new movie import elements of this storyline?
We're surely expecting martial arts master Shang-Chi to be one of the cornerstones of the new Avengers team. We can also potentially throw in the Eternals, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange and the Black Panther squad, plus the team of Marvel Phase Five concluder Thunderbolts. Might we also throw in Tom Holland's Spider-Man, too?
Kevin Feige has said that Avengers movies should be "a capper" to each Marvel phase. Given the sprawling potential of the film's ensemble cast, there's no denying the potential for Avengers 5 to dwarf even the mighty Avengers: Endgame in its scope.
Just announced in Hall H:
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 24, 2022
Marvel Studios' Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, in theaters May 2, 2025. #SDCC2022 pic.twitter.com/kCxeyYwgN5
4. Avengers: Secret Wars
Release date May 7th, 2027
One year after Avengers 5, Avengers: Secret Wars is set to conclude Marvel Phase Six with a monumental eruption of action and spectacle.
Of course, we don't know the particulars at this stage. But with Avengers 5 acting as something of an entrée, Avengers: Secret Wars will definitely be the most ambitious and expansive Marvel movie to date.
Little wonder that Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo reportedly quailed at the sheer scale of the project before officially bowing out of the running. In fact, it was Kevin Feige who confirmed that the Russos would not be helming the movie.
As ever, we don't know if the eventual movie will show much loyalty to its comic book source. In this instance, we're hoping to goodness it does. In the comics, Secret Wars was a 12-issue event that first debuted in 1984 and was reworked again in 2015. The story sees the most powerful Marvel superheroes face off against the most powerful villains in an epic fight that takes place on a planet called Battleworld.
The original 1984 comic arc was labelled a crossover event, designed as a collaboration between Marvel and toy designer Mattel. Our heroes were dispatched by a villain named The Beyonder to a distant planet where many of their abilities and backstories were altered. (For instance, Spider-Man gets his black symbiotic costume that later molds to Eddie Brock to become Venom.)
The 2015 revival arc dealt with the attempted destruction of the multiverse by The Beyonders. They attempted to do so via means of a deadly incursion, the very term invoked by Charlize Theron's Clea at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Incursions describe the collision of different universes and the consequences that ensue. In Multiverse of Madness, it's the Doctor Strange of Earth-838 who causes it. Given that the foundations for an incursion have now been laid in the MCU, can we expect Avengers: Secret Wars to take more inspiration from the 2015 story arc?
Those familiar with the Secret Wars comics will also be aware of Molecule Man's involvement. He's essentially being used as a pawn in the Beyonders' scheme, although this plan is ultimately foiled by the Fantastic Four's nemesis Doctor Doom. Already, there are linking opportunities between the various movies that make up Marvel Phase Six.
News of the cast, director and proposed villain is currently non-existent. It's highly likely, as with the Infinity Saga, that a single 'big bad' will traverse two movies. In that instance, it means Kang the Conqueror will lay down the ultimate gauntlet to the Avengers.
It's been reported that Avengers: Secret Wars will have a different director to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. However, no name has been announced.
Just announced in Hall H:
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 24, 2022
Marvel Studios' Avengers: Secret Wars, in theaters November 7, 2025. #SDCC2022 pic.twitter.com/FXQ5ZbzQYl
Stay tuned to this blog post over the coming months as we update it with more essential information about Marvel Phase Six.
Don't forget, you can now book your Cineworld tickets for Deadpool & Wolverine, releasing on July 25th. Do so via the link below.
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